Ironwood Goes Live on Zcash, Closing the Long-Standing Shielded Pool at Block 3,428,143

TL;DR

• Zcash activated Ironwood at block 3,428,143, sealing Orchard to new deposits and opening a new shielded pool that began with zero ZEC.
• Orchard held about 3.66 million ZEC worth roughly $1.7 billion, while a turnstile now caps withdrawals at verified historical deposits.
• Ironwood adds quantum-resilient records and formal proof verification, but migration remains voluntary, leaving most private ZEC inside the retired Orchard pool until individual holders choose to move it.

Zcash activated its Ironwood upgrade, formally known as NU6.3, at block 3,428,143 on Tuesday, closing the Orchard shielded pool to new deposits and opening a fresh private pool with zero coins. Orchard held about 3.66 million ZEC, valued near $1.7 billion, making the transition unusually consequential for a privacy network. Ironwood forces Zcash to rebuild its shielded supply from a clean starting point. Every holder must voluntarily move funds, leaving the pace of migration dependent on users rather than an automatic protocol transfer. The retired pool can no longer accept deposits.

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